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Landing at the Scarlet Palisade
The Landing at the Scarlet Palisade, also known as the Battle of Calston Fields, was a small skirmish engagement between the vanguard of the Congregation of the Silver Hand's invasion force into Tirisfal and a small defensive rearguard unit of the Horde stationed at the Calston Estate. Although any actual fighting was rather limited during the skirmish, the Alliance's ability to quickly and decisively assert a strong presence in northern Tirisfal set a strong tone for the remainder of the campaign, thus cementing the foundation of the Crusade into Lordaeron. History In the weeks before the crusading forces came to Tirisfal, there was much discussion by the Congregation of the Silver Hand on what their next step in the Quest for Turalyon would be. According to information obtained from the the Journal of Alleria Windrunner, Sir Turalyon and Lady Windrunner were greatly concerned with the safety of those who had been trapped alongside them when the retreating Alliance forces closed the portal to Azeroth from Draenor. With the world still heaving from the effects of Ner'zul's magic, the two seemed to believe that remaining on Draenor would be a death sentance for the Sons of Lothar and so sought to find an alternative route back to Azeroth. After several weeks of searching, Lady Windrunner was able to locate one of the few remaining portals that had been opened by Ner'zul. Unable to ascertain extactly where the portal lead, but also unwilling to wait and risk the lives of the Sons of Lothar, the two entered the portal along with a small cadre of volunteers from Honor Hold. Unfortunately, the portal became even more unstable as a result of the crossing and soon collapsed, leaving the whereabouts of the Turalyon and Alleria unknown. Initially disheartened by the news, the Congregation breathed a collective sigh of sadness. Thankfully, the Grand Knight announced that there was still hope for the endeavor. Some nights beforehand a group of magi from the Stormwind Circle of Magi and the Kirin Tor approached the Grand Knight and informed him of a battery of arcane experiments that they were currently running that could possibly locate Turalyon and Alleria; even from within the Twisting Nether. Unfortunately, the magic used for such divination required a very specific set of material reagents, including items of great emotional value and attachment of those being sought by the magic. With careful research, the scholars of the College of Canons were able to locate two items that would fit the requirements of the Magi to perform their magic; the Lion's Bastion and Windrunner's Tear. rallies the crusading forces.]]The Lion's Bastion, a shield used by Turalyon for many years, is thought to be located within one of the many abandoned armories within the surface ruins of Lordaeron City. In order to retrieve the shield, Congregational leadership came to the conclusion that mounting a false crusade on Brill would be the best way to lure enough of the Banshee Queen's forces away from the city so that a small elite strike force could infilitrate the ruins and recover the shield. Windrunner's Tear, unlike the Lion's Bastion, is located in the far more accessible ruins of Windrunner Village in Quel'Thalas and Congregation leadership hoped that a quick landing at the nearby spire would be enough to secure the valuable jewel. Preface Unaware that the Alliance would attempt to make a landing at the Scarlet Palisade, the forces of the Banshee Queen remained focused on the primary military fronts in Hillsbrad and Pandaria, leaving only a small rearguard of forces to watch over the desolate lands of northern Tirisfal. Scouting ahead of the main body of Alliance forces some days before, Dame Amaliana Bradford lead an expeditionary force from the College of Canons to clear the area. Meeting relatively little resistant at the ruins of the Scarlet enclave, the Dame ordered the Magi under the employ of the College to begin opening the portals to Stormwind, portals which would serve as the primary gateway of soldiers and supplies for the Congregation. Horde forces took little notice of the action and no reassignment of forces was ordered by anyone in the Forsaken High Command. Battle Forming up at the ruins of the Scarlet Palisade, Congregational forces began streaming through the portals close to the seventh hour of the late hours. Grand Knight Manstein, along with the other commanders of the crusading force, were taken aback by the massive numbers of crusaders who volunteered to join in the crusade. With the final count coming out close to over eighty skilled crusaders, the Alliance forces felt confident in their ability to solidify their hold on the palisade and make further pushes into Lordaeron.Contrary to the Alliance, the forces of the Horde were taken by complete surprise with only a mere fifteen to twenty souls at their command, a small portion of which was largely inexperienced and underequipped for the coming conflict. With SI:7 agents under the command of Codename 'Dirk' informing the Congregation that the Forsaken defenses were weak, the Grand Knight ordered that the force move from the palisade to meet the undead garrison at their headquarters within the nearby Calston Estate. Appointing The Falconheart, Lord Danyl Graves of the Kingdom of Lordaeron Restored to command the foray, the forces of the Congregation rode out to meet the Horde in battle. Unfortuately for the Horde and to the boon of the Alliance, the battle would not end well for the undead defenders of Lordaeron. Facing over four seperate charges, the Forsaken forces found themselves utterly unable to defend against the attacking forces despite their valiant efforts to stave off the zealous crusaders.. Losing all four engagements and fearing a quick encirclement, Horde forces soon came to the conclusion that holding the garrison was untenable and that a tactical retreat to Brill was required. Soon fleeing the Estate and grudgingly leaving it to the invaders, the Forsaken forced hoped to rally more defenders to their cause and stymie the Congregation's future advances. Unbeknowst to the Forsaken forces, however, Grand Knight Manstein saw the weakness in the Horde lines during the main engagement and, utilizing his superior numbers, broke off a large force of cavalry from the main force, the vast majority of which hailing from Blackmarsh, sending them to Brill with orders to harass the town, destroy would they could, and burn any supplies they found along the way. The force of outriders meet little resistance in the town and was successful in destroying a great deal of the supplies and equipment located in the town before they were forced to make a quick retreat as the beleagured forces from Calston arrived. Outcome With the Forsaken in complete retreat, the Congregation was successful in securing its base of operations at the Scarlet Palisade, as well as pushing its area of influence out to encompass the former garrison of the Calston Estate. For the time being, the Crusader forces seemed secure in the position. Capitalizing on the great victory, the Congregation was quick to dispatch vanguards to the Agamand Mills and Coldhearth Manor to scout the areas, as well as quickly erect a makeshift barrier to isolate the grave-village of Deathknell from the Undercity. The Forsaken, still reeling from their defeat at Calston, began making preperations to mount a stalwart defense of any future Crusader incursions. WoWScrnShot 070813 210448.jpg|The Crusaders act to secure their position by sending scouts to scope out the Agamand Mills and Coldhearth Manor. WoWScrnShot 070813 205334.jpg|The Crusaders celebrate their victory at Calston. WoWScrnShot 070813 205213.jpg|The battle rages at the Calston Estate. WoWScrnShot 070813 204111.jpg|The outrider force puts the torch to sections of Brill. WoWScrnShot 070813 204054.jpg WoWScrnShot 070813 203210.jpg WoWScrnShot 070813 203201.jpg WoWScrnShot 070813 201832.jpg Category:Invasion of Tirsfal & Quel'Thalas Category:Clergy of the Holy Light Category:Blood of Lordaeron Category:Brotherhood of Silver Category:College of Canons Category:Hand of Vengeance Category:The Auxiliary Category:The League of Lordaeron Category:Congregation of the Silver Hand